Portable Cigarette Holder, Extinguisher and Ashtray

ABSTRACT

A novel, portable cigarette holder, extinguisher ashtray, which is capable of fitting into the pocket, purse or handbag of a smoker. 
     The holder-ashtray has been designed with a special throat consisting of three precision placed throttles that firmly holds the inserted cigarette by compressing the sides of the lighted cigarette, causing the lighted cigarette to be extinguished and held without damage for relighting. 
     The holder-ashtray has restricted internal throat throttles which press the sides of a lighted cigarette butt inserted into the holder-ashtray and smothers the cigarette. The entrance to the holder-ashtray is flared to enhance entry of the lighted end of the cigarette into the holder-ashtray. The interior of the holder-ashtray is gradually flared away from the throat to encourage the cigarette butt to drop into the interior of the holder-ashtray once the cigarette has been inserted past the throttles in the throat. When inverted, the holder-ashtray retains the cigarette butt against the bottom of the throttles which acts as a stopper and prevents ashes from falling out. 
     The holder ashtray is designed to hold standard manufactured cigarettes as well as an adaptor that will allow the holder ashtray to accommodate various diameter size slim cigarettes.

This invention is directed to a novel portable standard cigarette saver, extinguisher, ashtray and an littering device which is capable of adapting to accommodate slim manufactured cigarettes and will conveniently fit into the pockets, purse or handbag of a smoker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A continuing problem which faces cigarette smokers is that ashtrays for disposal of ashes from a lighted cigarette and disposal of cigarette butts after the smoker is finished smoking the cigarette are no longer readily available. This is a particular problem indoors where because of public and health authorities' pressure to discourage smoking as many households and public places do not have ashtrays. Thus, those smokers who encounter such situations, or persist in smoking, or cannot overcome their addiction to cigarettes; face a continuing problem in disposing of their ashes and cigarette butts without littering.

Another problem is that lighted cigarettes represent a continuing fire hazard, both indoors and outdoors. Cigarettes which have not been properly extinguished have been known to be the cause of homes being destroyed by fire, including loss of lives, as well as causing many brush and forest fires. Thus, there is a longstanding need for a lightweight, portable, readily available device which can readily, quickly and safely extinguish a cigarette and save it without damage for relighting, then store the butt for proper disposal alleviating a world wide problem of cigarette butt littering. The design of our cigarette holder-ashtray will not allow a cigarette or cigarette ashes to fall out of the holder ashtray and several butts can be stored within the barrel of the ashtray-holder for later and proper disposal.

Yet another continuing problem with smokers is that when entering into many public places such as airports, railway and bus stations and vehicles such as airplanes, trains, and buses, taxis and rental cars, cigarettes must be extinguished before the smoker is finished with the cigarette. Also, at dinners and the like, some people like to smoke before or during courses. Thus, large sized cigarette butts must be discarded. It would be advantageous if such large size cigarette butts could be kept in good condition and relit at a subsequent convenient opportunity. This would represent a substantial saving because a fresh cigarette would not be required each time a smoker wished to smoke.

In the past, many innovators have invented or designed portable type ashtrays as a convenience to smokers. To date, such portable ashtrays have not received widespread commercial or consumer acceptance due to a number of shortcomings inherent in the ashtrays that have been designed.

This inventor is aware of the following United States patents which disclose portable ashtrays of various designs, and is also the inventor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,980 in 1986

U.S. PAT. NO. INVENTOR ISSUE DATE 4,587,980 F. Tipper May 13, 1986 Des 101,312 H. E. Ridewood Sep. 22, 1936 2,113,745 V. M. Pyatt Apr. 12, 1938 2,536,302 L. Mertzel Jan. 3, 1951 2,715,961 W. R. Field Aug. 23, 1955 2,760,498 G. W. McVey Aug. 28, 1956 2,781,762 M. H. Mears Feb. 19, 1957 2,964,044 W. M. Bryan Dec. 13, 1960 3,107,674 G. A. Smith Oct. 22, 1963 3,375,832 L. E. McMichael Apr. 2, 1968 3,405,719 S. Lustbader Oct. 15, 1968

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

I have invented a new convenient, useful, lightweight, sturdy, readily portable, safer cigarette holder, extinguisher and ashtray which can be carried by a smoker and stored in a pocket such as a shirt or coat pocket of the clothing worn by the smoker or a purse or handbag carried by the smoker. The holder-ashtray can be conveniently carried indoors or outdoors. The portable holder-ashtray is redesigned adding safety features that no other portable ashtray offers. It accepts standard diameter machine made cigarettes, including king size and filter cigarettes, and extinguishes the lighted cigarette in a very few seconds.

The throat of the cigarette holder-ashtray is also designed to receive a special adaptor to hold and extinguish slim cigarettes manufactured today by several cigarette manufacturing companies. The throttle adaptor (FIG. 4) is quickly and easily inserted into the throat of the holder ashtray and will now accommodate slim made cigarettes. No other portable cigarette ashtray offers this feature.

The holder-ashtray, when inverted, will not permit the cigarette butt, or the ashes to spill out, because the cigarette butt acts as a stopper against the designed throat inside the holder-ashtray. The holder-ashtray, by smothering the cigarette butts, leaves the butts in good condition so that they can be re relit at some later time without encountering any disagreeable “butt-taste”.

The invention is directed to a portable holder-ashtray which is capable or receiving the lighted end of at least one lighted cigarette butt, comprising: (a) a chamber for receiving and holding the cigarette butt; (b) an opening into the chamber for admitting the lighted cigarette butt into the chamber; and, (c) a restriction between the chamber and the opening consisting of three designed oval protruding areas that press against the sides of the lighted cigarette butt as it is admitted into the chamber and smothers the lighted end of the cigarette butt by preventing sufficient sustaining oxygen to enter the chamber when the butt is in place in the restriction. By smothering the cigarette, the butt is retained in good condition unlike cases where the butt is crushed against an ashtray or, when in the outdoors the smoker will often crush the cigarette out on a rock leaving hot sparks that are sufficient to start a wild fire.

In the holder ashtray, the chamber may be cylindrical and elongated in shape and the restriction throat may be a designed throat consisting of three nodules protruding into the barrel oval shaped areas causing the cigarette to be held securely instead of a cylindrical throat that uniformly compresses the cigarette tobacco causing the throat to lose its holding ability once the cigarette has been inserted more than twice, causing a possible danger of having the cigarette being compressed sufficiently to allow it to fall out of the holder. The new and greatly improved throat 5 design address this problem as the odds of the cigarette being inserted in precisely the exact same spot more than twice is in the million to one range and is a significant safety improvement of all other cigarette holder ashtrays shown, including the one that was granted a patent in 1986 to this same applicant, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,980. The cylindrical chamber may be of a gradual increasing internal diameter in the direction away from the opening so that the cigarette butt does not contact the walls of the chamber. This is advantageous because the extinguished cigarette butt remains in good condition and does not have ashes or tar rubbed against its sides.

In the holder-ashtray, the opening into the chamber may be flared in a direction away from the restriction. This enables the opening to be used as an ashtray for receiving ashes flicked off the end of the lighted cigarette. A removable cap may be located at the end of the chamber opposite the opening. This feature permits the extinguished butt to be readily removed for disposal and the holder-ashtray to be cleaned.

DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which illustrate one design of the portable ashtray.

FIG. 1 represents a side elevation view of the portable ashtray;

FIG. 2 represents a front elevation view of the portable ashtray—the arrows at the top and bottom indicate the cross-section depicted in the other views;

FIG. 3 represents a side elevation of the portable ashtray with the adaptor FIG. 4 inserted;

FIG. 4 represents the optional insert required for use with slim cigarettes;

FIG. 5 represents a side view of a short key chain version c/w ring hole in the clip top;

FIG. 6 represents a perspective view of the portable ashtray held in a shirt pocket of a user

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen FIG. 1, the portable holder-ashtray 1 is of an elongated shape, comprising a cylindrical barrel 2, with a flared mouth 3 at one end and a removable cap 4 at the opposite end. A throat 5 showing three restricted areas located at the base of the mouth 3 where it joins the barrel 2. The barrel 2 is equipped with a clip 6 which is useful for clipping and holding the holder-ashtray 1 upright in a shirt (see FIG. 6) or jacket pocket. Alternatively, the holder-ashtray 1, with or without the clip 6 may be kept in a purse or handbag of the smoker.

The holder-ashtray 1 can be formed of suitable metal, such as polished or chrome plated steel or stainless steel, or extrusion molded of a suitable fire resistant thermosetting plastic such as phenol or urea formaldehyde resin. The clip 6 may be formed of metal or plastic, so long as it is a material which can exert a slight tension force on the clip 6 when the holder-ashtray 1 is placed in a pocket.

The geometrical design of the holder ashtray has a number of important features which contribute to the utility and safety of the holder-ashtray 1. The mouth 3 is curved and flared outwardly away from the barrel 2 to assist entry of the lighted end of the cigarette into the interior of the barrel 2. The curved flared shape enables the mouth 3 to be used as an ashtray when the smoker wishes to flick ashes off the end of the lighted cigarette into the mouth 3. The curved shape of the mouth 3 permits a finger tip to fit within the mouth 3, thereby assisting the procedure of pushing the cigarette through the throat 5 or retrieving an extinguished cigarette. Further, the flared mouth 3 ensures that ashes, either lighted or dead, do not contact the clothing of the smoker or ashtray carrier. As well the design of the throat 5 will accept an adaptor FIG. 4 causing the holder ashtray 1 to be converted to a holder ashtray for use with slim cigarettes.

The diameter of the throat 5 has restriction areas relative to the internal diameter of the barrel 2 and is specifically designed to snuggly accommodate the diameter of virtually all standard machine-made cigarettes available in the marketplace. The rapid smothering action of a cigarette once the cigarette has been inserted past the throat 5 into the barrel 2 represents an important safety factor indeed even if the end cap 4 is not properly on or is missing the cigarette is still extinguished ensuring that a lighted cigarette will not remain in the shirt pocket of the smoker or a handbag or purse, possibly creating a potential fire hazard by setting fire to the handbag, purse or clothing of the smoker or generating a hot spot which might burn the smoker by being conducted through the wall of the barrel 2 and shirt of the smoker. Also the throat 5 prevents the cigarette butt from falling out of the holder-ashtray 1 if the holder-ashtray 1 is inverted, such as might occur if the smoker bends over, or if the holder-ashtray 1 is dropped on a flammable material such as a carpet, upholstery dry grass or a forest floor.

The barrel 2 is constructed so that its internal diameter increases gradually in a direction away from the throat 5 towards the cap 4. Thus, once a lighted cigarette is inserted into the barrel 2, the lighted ash before being extinguished does not tend to contact the interior walls of the barrel 2. Thus, smothered butts do not have ash or tar smeared on the sides and the butts can be removed and relit by the smoker. It has been found that the extinguished butts taken out of the holder-ashtray 1, when relit, do not have a disagreeable “butt taste” which is normally the case when butts extinguished in conventional ashtrays are relit. Also, the slight internal taper of the barrel 2 encourages the cigarette butt to drop into the interior of the barrel 2 after it is extinguished and pushed passed the throat throttles. The length of the barrel 2 is designed to be of sufficient length that it will receive several cigarette butts. At the same time, the length of the barrel 2 should be sufficiently short that it will be comfortably received in a normal shirt or suit jacket pocket or a handbag or purse.

When it is required to empty the holder-ashtray 1, cap 4 is unscrewed or snapped off if the holder ashtray is equipped with a snap cap and the cigarette butts and ashes are removed. The interior of the barrel 2 and the mouth 3 can then be cleaned with a cloth or tissue, or if desired, washed in water.

Example 1

A number of tests with various commercially available cigarettes were conducted using a prototype of the following dimensions:

Overall Length—5½ inches Length from base to throat—4.938 inches Diameter of mouth—0.32 inches Diameter of throat—0.305 inches Diameter of base—0.33 inches

Commercially available cigarettes used for testing included Du Maurer (filter), Player's, Export, Craven A (filter) and Benson Hedges slims, It was found that each of these brand name cigarettes passed smoothly and snugly past the throat and were held snugly by the throat even if not inserted entirely into the chamber of the holder-ashtray. If the cigarettes were pushed all the way past the throat, the cigarettes fell freely into the interior of the chamber. When the cigarette was inserted partially into the holder-ashtray and held by the designed throttles it can be withdrawn easily. Moreover, when the holder-ashtray was inverted with a cigarette contained in the chamber, the cigarette did not fall out.

Example 2

Using a holder-ashtray as described in example 1, a lighted EXPORT A cigarette was inserted all the way into the chamber of the holder-ashtray. The holder-ashtray was then dropped on a carpet. Neither the lighted cigarette, hot sparks or hot ashes came out of the holder-ashtray.

Example 3

Using a prototype as described in example 1, a lighted EXPORT A cigarette was inserted into the holder-ashtray. Only a slight warming sensation was felt on the exterior of the barrel of the holder-ashtray. No hot spot was generated.

Example 4

Using the same prototype as defined in example 1, a lighted Player's cigarette was inserted in the barrel of the holder-ashtray; the holder-ashtray was inverted and shaken. Neither the cigarette nor any lighted ash came out of the holder-ashtray.

Example 5

A series of time tests were done using the prototype described in example 1. Lighted Craven A cigarettes were inserted into the throat of the holder-ashtray for periods of time ranging from 4 seconds through to 8 seconds, whereupon the cigarette in each instance was withdrawn. It was found that the cigarettes which had been inserted into the holder-ashtray for periods of 6, seconds had been entirely extinguished. It was not possible to relight those cigarettes by drawing on the cigarette. The cigarettes which had been inserted into the holder-ashtray for 4 seconds respectively, while almost extinguished, 50% could be regenerated by drawing on the cigarettes.

Example 6

The cap was removed from a prototype as described in example 1. A lighted Export cigarette was partially inserted into the holder-ashtray and it was found that even with the cap removed, the cigarette was extinguished in 6 seconds. When the cigarette was withdrawn from the holder-ashtray, the end of the cigarette was crushed between the fingers, but no heat was encountered.

Example 7

Four experienced smokers relit cigarettes which had been extinguished using the holder-ashtray, none noticed any conventional “butt-aftertaste” when relighting the cigarettes. Moreover, no “butt-aftertaste” was encountered even though the cigarettes were extinguished and relit a number of times.

Example 8

The above tests were also completed using the slim cigarette adaptor, FIG. 4 with the same successful results

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure, some alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims. 

I claim:
 1. A portable cigarette extinguisher-holder-ashtray suitable for being carried in the pocket of a cigarette smoker and capable of receiving the lighted end of a cigarette butt comprising: a) a generally enclosed chamber with an opening therein for receiving and holding a cigarette butt, the width of the chamber being slightly larger in size than the diameter of a conventional cigarette, and the width of the chamber gradually increasing in the direction away from the opening; and b) a designed restriction throat, between the chamber and the opening which presses against the sides of the lighted cigarette butt as it is admitted into the chamber that is adapted to smother the lighted end of the cigarette butt by preventing combustion sustaining oxygen from reaching the lighted end of the cigarette.
 2. An ashtray as defined in claim 1 wherein the chamber is cylindrical and elongated in shape and the restriction throat consisting of three oval shaped areas protruding into the chamber.
 3. An ashtray as defined in claim 1 wherein the opening into the chamber is flared in a direction away from the restriction.
 4. An ashtray as defined in claim 2 wherein a removal cap is located at the end of the chamber opposite the opening.
 5. An ashtray as defined in claim 3 wherein the opening is convex in shape.
 6. An ashtray as defined in claim 1 where the throat 5 will receive an array of adaptors FIG. 4 to accommodate various smaller diameter manufactured slim cigarettes. 